Need granite countertop fixed
 

I am buying a spec on in the Village of Marianna and the granite lines are really large. They say tough and they are not going to fix them. Do you know of a repair person that might be able to fix granite.

?????
 

Where is the Village of Marianna ? :ohdear:

I think the OP means the Marianna Villas in Collier.

Just a guess.

That is not acceptable in a new home - who said "tough"??? It was cut incorrectly if your seams are that obvious and they don't want to eat the fix. Have you closed on this house? I would definitely get an attorney involved if not.

All I have ever heard AND my personal experience is with two new homes here.... is that warranty makes the contractors bend over backward to make things right. Talk to warranty and NOT the contractor, warranty has the power.


BUT seams are there in granite and will be somewhat visible...maybe you are expecting too much?


Welcome to the forum. Did you say the home you ARE BUYING? Nothing happens until things are bought. If you don't like it, maybe you need to find another home that better suits you.




I am shocked that anyone from The Villages would say anything remotely like "tough".

We are buying in Marianna Villas behind the new Eisenhower. This comes from the Designer Manual online for granite joints

10.2 Joint (seam) widths between two stone units should be a nominal 1/16".

I don't close until Jan. 15. but I think this can be fixed. If they take the countertop off and move it over and make the line smaller.
Do you think I am expecting too much? I looked at others that have granite and the lines are very small. It wouldn't be so bad but it is on breakfast bar. I tried to work with the sales people but they say this is acceptable Village standards. I have asked for that standard. They also said I signed a document that I have to take the granite as is. I don't see this document in my papers I signed. They said I have to get it fixed after closing and I have to pay for the repair.

If anyone knows of someone who can repair granite, I would appreciate his number. I would drop out of the deal but I already paid for loan appraisal and there are no more with 2 car garages in Marianna. I like that location because I can walk to the new Eisenhower.

Here is a picture:
http://courtland-llc.com/videos/Slab%20Seam%201.JPG

Wait and see if warranty won't fix it before you pay someone to do it. You can call warranty and talk to THEM.


Your problem seems very reasonable and not expecting too much.


I bet it will be solved by The Villages.


They TRY so hard to please. At least warranty does. Boo to your salesperson.

Gracie - I beg to differ. We had granite installed in a home in New Mexico and I would challenge anyone to find the seams. The Mexicans were absolutely masters when it came to working with stone. The owner worked on that seam for at least an hour until he made it disappear. I really, really, really want granite installed here, but my expectations are so high I don't know if anyone can meet them.

Try to have a sit down with your sales person and your construction super to see if something can be worked out. Have you tried to get your sales person to have it fixed as a condition of your referring future business his or her way..
If no luck, contact Stone Central @ 352-689-0075.. Ask for Phil ..We used him for our after close with our granite and am very satisfied.. If it can be fixed, Phil can do it...

Carlos @ Stone Designer 352-454-2336

Contact the warranty dept.!
They should be able to have some one FIX/REPAIR to your satisfaction!

Thank you everyone for your input. I did receive an email from my salesperson. Warranty Department is going to call me. I will see if they are going to do anything before I call a granite repair person.

If they do not want to fix it, I will pay someone to fix it.

Also the corners do not line up and the sales manager said that is normal. I am now home in Deland and I looked at my corners on my countertop. They line up perfectly.

I am having problems with the quality of the homes in The Villages. But I love the people in The Villages and all the activities.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

We installed granite AFTER we purchased our home here.
I have had it in earlier homes and I am very discerning. I'll proudly admit it.

We hired: Exquisite Designs Kitchen & Bath- (Anthony Pagan) 786-298-1320

His company was recommended by Roberto's Flooring- another fine company. The workmanship was flat-out superb. I posted a thread about our experience- you may find it if you are interested, using the search button.

P.S. We have one 3" (in total length) seam in the whole of the granite. You'd never find it if we didn't tell.

Thank you for Tony number. I had him look at the Village installed granite and he said it was installed wrong. He showed me some pictures of other granite jobs in the villages for my model and they do not have these large seams in the middle of the breakfast bar. The Village answer to fix this is to put black wax on the grout line. At first glance it looks better but it is just covering up the bad installation job. It may need to be replaced because if they attempt to take the granite off it may crack. This might cost me about $3600.00. The prices are increasing at The Villages and the quality of the homes are going down. Boo on the The Villages for not expecting quality work from their contractors.

We used Exquisite Designs as well, after Uptown Girl graciously invited us to see her granite. We are so pleased. He did a beautiful job and helped us with granite selection so that there are no seams at all.

I would say that you will be happier in the long run if you just let him replace your granite. You will forget about the cost and be so happy with your countertops instead of staring at and hating that seam for as long as you live in your house.

Bad Granite install
 

After I contacted a granite installer to fix the granite, they informed me the granite was installed improperly. If they remove the granite and install it correctly the granite might break so it could cost me about $3600 to repair.


I forwarded this information to the sales department and here is their response.
Response from Gerry (sales manager):

As we have discussed there is a disclaimer in “Exhibit A” in the contract that states there may be visible seams. My understanding is that prior to going under contract Carol was aware of the seam and also aware that we checked with the builder and he said that the seam would have to be accepted as it is if she wanted to purchase the home. Our goal is for our residents to wake up every morning and be happy in their home in The Villages. It is evident that Carol will not be happy with the seam and at this point we don’t want to force her to purchase the home so we have offered to refund her entire deposit, not keeping any of it for carrying costs of the home for the past 18 days since she took it off the market. If she does not have a copy of “Exhibit A” please have contracts scan you a copy so you can email it to her.

There is no disclaimer in my Exhibit "A". He made that up and threaten me verbal with this. Maybe he should have read my contract that we signed. Today I received an email from my sales agent that showed me what my Exhibit "A" should have read. Really! Since they installed the granite wrong they want to add this disclaimer after my contract.


Welcome to the New Villages! Poor workmanship and higher prices!!

I have granite in my home in Minnesota , and you need a magnifying glass to find a seam , for an expensive product like this you should never settle for anything less
just my 2 cents

Shady workmanship
 

That seam is unacceptable. It has been our experience that the villages home Warrenty does everything they can to make sure the home owners are happy with their purchase. With that being said, there are no more custom homes being built. It's take it or leave attitude it now that they are all specs. I would see if you could find another villa that is built with a higher quality. Certainly the granite should be perfect. The seam will be visible but not to that extent. Shame on the Warrenty department for accepting this kind of workmanship. Best of luck to you.

I agree. We had some problems with Home Warranty with our laminate countertop. They kept trying to fix it, but never got it right, and wouldn't re-install new countertop. We are now in the process of doing granite countertop, at our own expense of course. I personally wouldn't let them rake me over the coals like that, but to each his/her own. Good luck, no matter what you decide.